After years without a pet, and after checking out the possibilities, I got a fish for the office. Just one in a comfortable square tank in a corner of the cubicle; a perfect reflection of office life.
It’s a betta, also known as a Siamese fighting fish because two males in one tank will quickly become a “Last Fish Standing” fight to the death. So the fish swims alone, as do I and my fellow walled-in denizens. He rests and circles, stares and darts, and two to three times daily he gets fed.
I must say that, for a five dollar fish, his table manners aren’t worth two cents.
For the first day or so, he didn’t eat. Finally he gave in and took to the food I had bought for him, like a finicky cat, and we got into a routine in which I got his attention and he casually picked at his food. At least it doesn’t come in six million varieties like dog or cat food. The betta apparently eats pellets three meals a day and blood worms for dessert. The worms look like finely cut mulch for a miniature garden. The pellets would probably fertilize a garden, but I save them for the fish anyway.
Over the past couple of weeks, the betta has gone all “Jaws” on me, lunging at his daily pellet as if he could worry it to death like a dog at a bone. Only I don’t think he has teeth. Thank goodness for that. One day I expect him to leap from the tank and latch onto my finger.
It’s not as if he doesn’t have company; I have motion toys at my desk to keep him amused, and coworkers visit him regularly. They also think he hasn’t been fed, so he sometimes gets overfed by day and then goes hungry overnight for eight hours. That probably explains the predatory behavior when I rush in the next morning to set him up by the desk to enjoy the view and hand feed him pellets one at a time.
Maybe he has a case of ADHD, because I drop pellets and he swims right by them or under them. He also doesn’t pick up on pellets he missed the first trip around; or maybe he doesn’t like leftovers.
The uneaten pellets drop to the bottom of the tank and make the water cloudy. This means cleaning up uneaten food along with poo, but at least the tank has a self-cleaning siphon function which makes it easier. No chasing Jaws around the tank to transfer him to a water glass while his environment is given a thorough sanitizing.
Like me, bettas are low maintenance fish. They’re beautiful to watch and can be a source of relaxation in an office environment. Just watch your fingers when they’re hungry.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 
Jaws of the Betta
Posted at 4:46 am by kayewer, on February 8, 2015
After years without a pet, and after checking out the possibilities, I got a fish for the office. Just one in a comfortable square tank in a corner of the cubicle; a perfect reflection of office life.
It’s a betta, also known as a Siamese fighting fish because two males in one tank will quickly become a “Last Fish Standing” fight to the death. So the fish swims alone, as do I and my fellow walled-in denizens. He rests and circles, stares and darts, and two to three times daily he gets fed.
I must say that, for a five dollar fish, his table manners aren’t worth two cents.
For the first day or so, he didn’t eat. Finally he gave in and took to the food I had bought for him, like a finicky cat, and we got into a routine in which I got his attention and he casually picked at his food. At least it doesn’t come in six million varieties like dog or cat food. The betta apparently eats pellets three meals a day and blood worms for dessert. The worms look like finely cut mulch for a miniature garden. The pellets would probably fertilize a garden, but I save them for the fish anyway.
Over the past couple of weeks, the betta has gone all “Jaws” on me, lunging at his daily pellet as if he could worry it to death like a dog at a bone. Only I don’t think he has teeth. Thank goodness for that. One day I expect him to leap from the tank and latch onto my finger.
It’s not as if he doesn’t have company; I have motion toys at my desk to keep him amused, and coworkers visit him regularly. They also think he hasn’t been fed, so he sometimes gets overfed by day and then goes hungry overnight for eight hours. That probably explains the predatory behavior when I rush in the next morning to set him up by the desk to enjoy the view and hand feed him pellets one at a time.
Maybe he has a case of ADHD, because I drop pellets and he swims right by them or under them. He also doesn’t pick up on pellets he missed the first trip around; or maybe he doesn’t like leftovers.
The uneaten pellets drop to the bottom of the tank and make the water cloudy. This means cleaning up uneaten food along with poo, but at least the tank has a self-cleaning siphon function which makes it easier. No chasing Jaws around the tank to transfer him to a water glass while his environment is given a thorough sanitizing.
Like me, bettas are low maintenance fish. They’re beautiful to watch and can be a source of relaxation in an office environment. Just watch your fingers when they’re hungry.
Related
Author: kayewer